‘Oh Saving Victim!’: Corpus Christi, Feast of the Eucharist

Today (June 8, 2023) is the feast of Corpus Christi, or the Body of Christ. “I am the living bread which came down from heaven,” Jesus said (Jn. 6:51-52). “If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world.”

“[Diocese of Corpus Christi] The day [of Corpus Christi] celebrates the church's belief in the transubstantiation -- or transformation -- of the [bread] and wine becoming the body and blood of Jesus Christ. The holy day dates back to…1246.”

We must eat of this living bread if we are to possess eternal life. I wrote in more detail about the Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist and its Biblical formulation for Holy Thursday. Two things are very clear: St. Paul says (1 Cor. 11:27, 29) that eating the Eucharist unworthily—while in a state of serious and unrepented sin—brings condemnation; and Jesus said (Jn. 6:54-55), “Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day.” In the original Greek of John 6:55, Jesus uses an almost hyper-visceral word, τρώγων (trogon), from τρώγω (trogo), which means quite literally to “gnaw,” “chew,” or “crunch.” Jesus wanted us to chew His flesh; and, by doing so, we become like Him, for we become what we eat.

I would like to end with the words of the beautiful Eucharistic hymn O salutaris hostia, which is a section of a longer hymn written by the brilliant St. Thomas Aquinas. It asks for the intercession of Christ, present in the Eucharist, to protect us on earth and bring us to Heaven:

O salutaris Hostia,
Quae caeli pandis ostium: 
Bella premunt hostilia,
Da robur, fer auxilium.
Uni trinoque Domino 
Sit sempiterna gloria,
Qui vitam sine termino 
Nobis donet in patria.
Amen.

O saving Victim, opening wide,
The gate of heaven to man below!
Our foes press on from every side;
Thine aid supply, thy strength bestow.

To Thy great name be endless praise,
Immortal Godhead, one in Three;
Oh, grant us endless length of days,
In our true native land with Thee. Amen